Raichle 323 vs. AF700

[newcarver]

I aquired a new pair of 323's. I've been riding some AF700's with a standard tongue(race tongue was giving me shin bang) and soft spring BTS. They also have ski buckles in place of the plastic ones. Will the 323's be similar or much softer overall? I'm also using a set of wrap around Scarpa Intuition liners. I have a set of ZipFit liners that I wanted to try in the 323's. Will these fit this shell? Was thinking of putting BTS on them with a blue spring too. I use the AF700's for all types of riding including freeriding off piste. They seem a little too stiff laterally when I'm doing bumps or tight trees. Will these 323's be a good combo of flex/comfort?

[Bobby Buggs]

For me SB's have more flex especially laterally and seem more comfortable at lower angles.

[teach]

Funny, these are the two pairs of boots I have and only ones I've tried. The 323s have a smaller fit (and shorter sole by a little). I'm near 200 lbs so the AF700s don't seem all that stiff, but the 323s are definitely not stiff, close to a soft-boot feel for me. Very nice except mine are too big.

[newcarver]

Was thinking of selling the AF700's but I will try the 323s first. Might be worth setting these up for all mountain and keeping the AFs for carving. I'm only 160 lbs so the AFs were pretty stiff until I did some of the mods to them. They are pretty comfy for all but chopped up powder and mogels.

[bobdea]

Was thinking of selling the AF700's but I will try the 323s first. Might be worth setting these up for all mountain and keeping the AFs for carving. I'm only 160 lbs so the AFs were pretty stiff until I did some of the mods to them. They are pretty comfy for all but chopped up powder and mogels.

the sb series boots are lower volume and a completely different fit so make sure you put a couple days on the 323s first.
also, unless the cuff alignment mechanism is different than it was a decade ago keep a few spares, they fail.

[Bobby Buggs]

Just got in from my 2nd day on new foam liners in my 700s. They totally smoke it for hard carving:biggthump If your gonna go trenching and they fit you well then the 700s are what you want. Many others ride them in all types of conditions well. Me personally if its not a good carving day Im gonna be on soft boots. After 15 seasons riding only hard boots the soft boots are like mindless riding, so easy.